‘Soprano’ voices: Steve Schirripa, Michael Imperioli dissecting all 86 episodes of TV series in new podcast

Bada bing, bada boom, “The Sopranos” has been in a tomb for nearly 13 years, but the groundbreaking HBO show is still remarkably popular.

David Chase’s brilliant and award-winning mobster drama broke all of the rules. The gamechanger’s protagonist, Tony Soprano, an immoral and seemingly immortal (what happened at the end of the finale?) antihero, was compellingly complex.

The animal lover, who had no problem whacking any human, succumbed to anxiety attacks and confided to a shrink. And Soprano, perfectly played by the late James Gandolfini, was surrounded by a bunch of wiseguys.

His made men lacked conscience but were always a short distance from deadly weapons, envelopes stuffed with cash and plates of pasta. Steve Schirripa, who played mild-mannered and kind mobster (sure, it’s an oxymoron, but that’s the way Chase wrote it) Bobby Baccalieri, and Michael Imperioli, the drug-addled, unhinged Christopher Moltisanti, host the podcast “Talking Sopranos,” which debuted in April at talkingsopranos.simplecast.com.

The tandem dissect all 86 “The Sopranos” episodes. One-on-one, Schirripa, 62, details why “The Sopranos” remains crazy popular, what “Seinfeld” character was slated to be part of the show and if Soprano survived the series finale.

What inspired the podcast?

There are so many people who have “The Sopranos” podcasts but weren’t part of the show. Michael and I were very involved with the show. We can give people the real story. We realized how many people are rewatching the show.

A lot of people are watching the show for the first time. My 21-year-old daughter is binge-watching.

So is my 24-year-old daughter. We weren’t going to do this with the pandemic, but people said they could really use this podcast now. Michael is in California and I’m here in New York, and we’re having fun with it.

David Chase recently gave you and Michael new, contemporary dialogue written for “The Sopranos.” You, Michael and even James Gandolfini have lines.

It’s all in our latest podcast. It’s at the top of the show.

My favorite line is from Uncle Junior. “I saw on Fox, the lieutenant governor of Texas said he didn’t mind dying to help the economy because he’s over 70 with some grandkids. Maybe we can help him out with that.

Junior always had some of the best lines.

What surprised you the most about going back to the show?

How funny it is. It was laugh-out-loud funny at times. I also understand the stuff with Dr. Melfi more now maybe because I’m older and I’m more interested in it. The other thing is that the show holds up even though it’s 20 years old. It’s subtle. And when it’s funny, it’s on the nose.

Is it difficult to watch?

With Jim gone, it’s bittersweet, but we have to go back and and analyze the stuff.

We take notes, and we talk about it with guests. We’re going to have Edie Falco on and the kids (Jamie Lynn-Sigler and Robert Iler).

What can you tell me about “The Sopranos” that I don’t know?

That Jerry Stiller was going to play Hesh.

Why are “The Sopranos” bigger than ever?

I think a lot of the kids were too young to watch it. Now they’re watching it. The podcast and streaming generation binge on it. When we watched the show, 11 million people watched it since you had to have HBO. But now you can watch it on Amazon and in other ways. The show is still huge. We were supposed to leave this Sunday for a 16-city tour, but that’s obviously canceled.

Why are people drawn to mob shows and movies?

Because it’s the modern Western.

What was your reaction when Rolling Stone declared “The Sopranos” the greatest show of all time?

It was an honor. If our show isn’t the best, it’s among the best. “Seinfeld” is obviously great. It’s a brilliant half-hour comedy. But “The Sopranos” was different. But truth be told, I don’t see a better show than “The Sopranos.” It was different in some many ways.

Gandolfini was not your typical leading man.

No. The leading man was not a great-looking guy. He was balding, overweight. He was a bad guy who murdered people. He ripped people off. He was a manipulator. He took his daughter to college and murdered someone.

But Chase humanized him by having Soprano see a shrink, and Tony was funny. Like when he called you a calzone on two legs. It was funny also since you guys were around the same weight, but he made fat jokes at your expense.

During my first two seasons, they made me wear a fat suit. By the fourth season, I didn’t have to wear a fat suit. I guess I gained enough weight.

The debate is endless. Did Tony Soprano live or die in the diner when the curtain was drawn on the show?

I think Tony Soprano is alive and well and living in New Jersey. I could be wrong, but that’s the way David Chase does things. He doesn’t wrap things up. That’s the brilliance of David Chase. People are still talking about what happened.

What was it like wondering if your character would be killed off every week since the show was so unpredictable?

That was a legitimate concern. The more they gave you to do, the higher the stakes got. You’re happy when the audience gets more invested in you. But then killing you means something. If you have the kind of show like “The Sopranos,” people are going to get killed. We’re probably the first show to kill off a major character.

I believe the first major character to be killed off a show was on “St. Elsewhere” when Mark Harmon’s Bobby Caldwell died in 1986.

Well, OK, but when Big Pussy got killed on our show, it was like any of us could go next.

What was it like working with Gandolfini?

It was great fun. He was a terrific actor. He was very serious about acting. He wanted to make sure you were OK. He was a good guy.

Is it true that after Gandolfini held out for a bigger contract, he gave each of the cast $33,333 for the trouble he caused?

Yes. He gave that amount to 16 people. That went a longer way in 2004. Each of us could buy a nice SUV if we wanted to.

You and Michael sound great on the podcast, but it’s interesting since you guys weren’t in a lot of scenes together?

No, we weren’t in a lot of scenes together in “The Sopranos,” but we became good friends, and we were in a couple of movies together. But we’re having more fun than you can imagine with our podcast.